LABS & ACADEMIA · MITOCHONDRIA & AGEING
Mitochondrial biology and ageing research in South Africa sits in biochemistry and physiology departments and a few well-funded private labs, and its peptide literature is the most mechanistic on this site. These are compounds defined by what they bind and where: cardiolipin in the inner membrane, AMPK in the cytosol, telomerase in the nucleus.
This page reads that literature at bench level: cardiolipin-binding peptides and cristae preservation, mitochondrial-encoded peptides and metabolic signalling, NAD+ and the sirtuin and PARP enzymes, redox buffering, and the bioregulator telomerase and gene-transcription work. It grades each strand and explains sourcing in South Africa. Compounds are supplied for laboratory research only.
SS-31 anchors the structural literature: it binds cardiolipin, preserves cristae architecture and ATP production in kidney ischaemia models, re-energised ischaemic mitochondria, and in 2025 received US accelerated approval for muscle strength in Barth syndrome, the rare case of a mitochondrial research peptide reaching a human endpoint. MOTS-c anchors the signalling literature: a mitochondrial-encoded peptide that activates AMPK, improves glucose handling and exercise capacity in mice, declines with age in plasma and responds to exercise in humans.
NAD+ is the cofactor literature, sitting under sirtuins, PARPs and the circadian clock, with human precursor trials giving mixed metabolic results. Glutathione is the redox literature, with human trials showing raised stores from liposomal oral forms. Epitalon is the bioregulator literature: telomerase activity in vitro, melatonin rhythm in cohorts, and a family of short peptides studied for direct effects on gene transcription. ARA-290 adds tissue protection through the innate repair receptor.
Research context only — what each compound has been studied for in published work, not what it does for anyone. Independently tested by Janoshik Analytical.
Binds cardiolipin in the inner mitochondrial membrane, preserving cristae and ATP output in injury models, reviewed as a mitochondria-targeted agent that limits electron-transport-chain oxidative injury, and approved in 2025 for a rare mitochondrial disease.
View product and certificate →The mitochondrial-encoded peptide: AMPK activation, fatty-acid oxidation, preserved healthspan metrics in ageing mice, and plasma levels that fall with age and rise with exercise.
View product and certificate →The coenzyme under the sirtuin and PARP enzymes and the circadian clock, with human precursor trials on metabolic endpoints and intestinal and neuronal mitochondrial studies.
View product and certificate →The main intracellular antioxidant defending mitochondrial DNA from oxidative damage, with a human study showing raised stores from liposomal oral forms.
View product and certificate →A short bioregulator peptide studied for telomerase induction in vitro, direct influence on gene transcription, and melatonin rhythm in long clinical cohorts.
View product and certificate →An EPO-derived peptide that engages the innate repair receptor without haematopoiesis, studied across kidney, nerve and immune tissue-protection models.
View product and certificate →Biochemistry and physiology departments in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Durban receive parcels from our Johannesburg hub in one to two business days with The Courier Guy. Weekday orders paid before noon dispatch the same afternoon. Lyophilised vials ship sealed with per-compound storage guidance; campus PUDO lockers are selectable at checkout. Multi-compound research orders typically clear the R2,500 free-shipping line.
Questions before ordering: WhatsApp 076 680 0306 or 072 926 7667. Delivery detail for your city: research peptides in Cape Town.
SS-31, with US accelerated approval in 2025 for muscle strength in Barth syndrome. The others are mouse, cell and cohort data.
No. It is a coenzyme. It is listed with the research vials because it sits in the same literature, and its copy never calls it a peptide.
We supply research compounds with an independent Janoshik Analytical certificate of identity and HPLC purity. Assay-specific reference standards are a separate category.
Yes. See the university labs page for institutional ordering.
RESEARCH SETS
Educational content — not medical advice. All products supplied for research purposes only. Not for human consumption.
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